Small Business News

| Associated Press

Mike Roach, who co-owns Paloma Clothing with his wife in Portland, Oregon, said that once credit card mileage bonuses and other perks began to be the norm, card usage soared. He said swipe fees have been a significant cost of business -- before the pandemic, he calculated that there were some years his card fees were more than his (admittedly low) rent.

| Longmont Leader

A recent poll conducted by Small Business Majority revealed that small business owners support legislation that would remove barriers to finding quality candidates. “Reducing barriers to occupational licensing for justice-impacted individuals is an important step to addressing Colorado’s workforce shortage challenges and empowering innovators to take the entrepreneurial plunge,” said Lindsey Vigoda, Colorado Director for Small Business Majority.

| Washington Business Journal

An organization of small businesses across the country, the Main Street Alliance, highlighted the challenges that those employers have due to a lack of child care: their brief cited Small Business Majority's poll findings that "half of all small business owners name child care access and cost a top issue."

| Patch Atlanta

With a week left in the legislative session, Georgia legislators have the opportunity to strengthen our workforce and economy by passing Senate Bill 157. This legislation would expand entrepreneurship and employment opportunities by opening access to occupational licensing for justice-impacted individuals.

| Senator Amy Klobuchar

The American Innovation and Choice Online Act has been endorsed by Small Business Majority, Center for American Progress and Consumer Reports.

| Forbes

This reflects growing popular support, like the 85% of New Mexicans who said they’d support such a program, and recognition that social infrastructure is just economic policy.

| Inside Sources

We all know that healthcare is expensive and often out of reach for too many people. However, healthcare costs can mean the difference between success and failure for small businesses by affecting their bottom lines and hindering their ability to hire employees.

| 21 Hats Podcast

This week, the founder and CEO of Small Business Majority talks about whether he heard what he wanted to hear in Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, what he makes of recent court rulings asserting that the Minority Business Development Agency must support owners of all races, and what he makes of the growing demand from businesses for more immigration.

| WABE

Rachel Shanklin, Georgia director of Small Business Majority’s outreach, says one bill that the group is pushing for is Senate Bill 157, which would help people reentering society to start their own businesses.

| Associated Press

Cheyenne Smith, in Salt Lake City, Utah, founder of Dakota Ridge, an e-commerce company selling children’s shoes, relies on Meta’s platforms, primarily Instagram, to grow her customer base, via a mix of unpaid Instagram posts and paid ads.

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